Bikhre moti (Scattered pearls)

23.1 India's Sweethearts!

This one's for two of my sweetest readers ReenaSungeelee and Reneeshah for their lovely reviews throughout ❤

Genre: Rom-com.

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"Superstar Neil Khanna to make a comeback to small screen."

"Kiran Gupta to launch her daughter with a new show Teri Meri Prem Kahani, another nepotism child?"

The news channels were constantly buzzing with all sorts of news ahead of the launch of a much-hyped show 'Teri Meri Prem Kahani'. It was special because TV screen's heartthrob who now became Bollywood star, Neil Khanna was supposed to make a comeback with it. It was also going to launch famous writer Kiran Gupta's daughter in showbiz and finally, it was produced by a famous production house, Arj media! The promotions were in full swing and the first promo starring the heroine had already hit the TV screens. It was going to be a prime time 9pm show on a leading channel Sitara.

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Arnav hated Mumbai monsoons. As if the city didn't have enough humidity, the rainy season made it worse. Having spent last 5 years abroad in a pleasant weather of Switzerland, this was a stark contrast he didn't like. Thank god, his house in Mumbai had a swimming pool!

Dripping wet from the hour-long swim, Arnav came out of the pool, and taking a towel, he walked across the main hall where his sister and brother-in-law were watching something on the big screen they had in the hall. This wasn't new for him. His brother-in-law, Shyam Jha was a famous TV actor -more like infamous for his villainous roles- but a charming guy in real life. Too bad, after his stint as a negative character in 'Kabhi daamad, kabhi saanp (Sometimes son-in-law, sometimes snake)', he became even more hated by the audience. Nonetheless, he won many awards for his brilliant acting that made the audience hate his character and he was being called Snakewa! He was currently playing a role of a gay character in his latest show 'Mere Piya ke Piya (my husband's boyfriend)'. Arnav's sister, on the other hand, was a producer- Anjali Raizada Jha- and owned the production house Arj.

"Whoa! Someone's looking hot!" Shyam commented looking at Arnav's 6-pack-abs visible with his naked torso and water droplets dripping down his body after his recent swim.

"Thanks, Jij!" Arnav said with a smile and came to stand near his sister and jiju.

Anjali scrunched her nose looking at them and turned to reprimand them, "Look guys, as much as I love that my husband and my brother are close friends, I don't want to be scared of your increasing mutual fondness, if you know what I mean! Arnav, go and wear some clothes, will you? And Shyamji, trust me, I am proud of you for taking a progressive show, but don't practice your role at home!"

Arnav and Shyam stood horrified after hearing that and looked at each other in shock. As if touched by electricity, they immediately went to stand as much away from the other as possible! Throwing a mortified look at Anjali, Shyam answered her, "Rani Sahiba, you are becoming hysteric due to all this stress. Don't worry, your show's launch will be successful."

By the time Arnav came back wearing a T shirt and shorts, the scene in the drawing room had changed from stressed to extra stressed!

"What happened, Di? Everything ok?"

"NO! My serial's hero, Neil Khanna has left the show. Even before we aired first episode!"

"What the-? How can he?"

"He got some big movie offer! He has even paid twice the amount to break the contract so I can't take any legal action either." Anjali said, holding her head.